Differences…
One major difference between theologically conservative Christians and more liberal Christians is the word contextualization.
Most would agree that the bible is the ultimate authority for life, but what exactly does that mean? Because the bible is the ultimate authority, and we had the bible 100 years ago, shouldn’t our interpretation of the bible be the same as it was 100 years ago? Afterall, the bible doesn’t change, only we do. God doesn’t change, only the culture does. If our interpretation of the bible has changed in the last 100 years, then it seems like something outside of the bible is influencing our interpretation of the bible. Do we let our culture help us interpret the bible? Is that wrong? Shouldn’t the truth be the same yesterday, today and tomorrow?
My opinion is that the bible is the ultimate authority in life, but not the only source of truth. Our interactions with our culture will inevitably influence our interpretation of the bible. We cannot separate ourselves from our culture. Therefore it is futile to “not let the secular culture influence us.” We see only in part (1 Cor 13:12), but God will reveal more and more of his truth to us as we continue to struggle with it and think through it.
Powered by FireStats
5 Comments, Comment or Ping
searchingfortreasures
True!
God’s word is living and active and speaks to us in the world we live in TODAY. It makes no sense to try to apply the Bible to our lives the way that people applied it back 100 years ago. Things were different ‘back then.’
Plus, many conservatives say that we ought to contextualize the Bible in a certain way “because that’s how our forefathers did it.” The truth is, they pick and choose WHICH forefathers they follow. They ignore the ones who interpreted the Word in a way that is incongruous to what they think the Bible should say.
Feb 18th, 2008
kanfood
agree. Bible itself is an incomplete revelation of God. It’s more than sufficient for our fallen human existence right now, but it’s still incomplete.
Feb 18th, 2008
justwatching
i’m glad you still post even though i don’t
Feb 18th, 2008
KingdomSheepDog
God has written three masterpieces.
1. Creation
2. Bible
3. You and me
God continues to work on the third ones.
We need to interpret the Bible congruently with all these three masterpieces of God, with the Bible still being the supreme guide and authority. It is a bit circular, but works like a spiral. Missing anyone of these is a gross under-efforts on our parts.
The problem of some conservatives is that their myopic view causes them to dismiss the other two too lightly.
Feb 19th, 2008
elderj
I don’t think interpretations change that much… something either means something or it doesn’t. And I don’t think there is more “truth” to be revealed. The fullest revelation of God has already happened in the person of Jesus. What changes are the contexts in which the truth of scripture is applied and lived out, which is another way of saying how we apply the truth of scripture changes.
Aug 21st, 2008
Reply to “Differences…”